III THRILLER

You'd think there is enough going on in the world right now to be concerned with artificially trashing the ratings of another fragrance on here you've never tried, just because it was part-produced by a YouTube influencer. There is something a bit ugly in the innate need in some people to deny others opportunity based on jealousy or to denigrate what others do because you think they are somehow unworthy. I have to say I quite enjoy Cal Cologne's videos. He isn't hysterical, he has a good nose, he's not showing off, he isn't using clickbait thumbnails or silly captions and I have never had the vibe that he is on anyone's payroll to glaze fragrances for money. He might well be. But he never gave me the vibe that he is. Whether he is or not, I don't really care. I like his videos and I am an adult who is capable of making my own judgements on whether I want to buy a fragrance or not. Influencers glazing a certain fragrance or house doesn't compel me to buy it. I buy what I want, not what the influencers tell me to. So, I saw this fragrance pop up in the Fragrantica reviews. I recognised it from Cal's videos and had a look at the notes. I'm quite into pink pepper and creamy-textured spices in my fragrances of late so I picked it up to try it. It is supposed to be similar to a YSL fragrance I haven't tried so I went into it blind. First reaction is that it comes in a lovely, very well presented box and the bottle is heavy and feels high quality with a nice hefty cap on it. So far so good. Opening blast is - I guess true to his name - a classical cologne-y feel with bergamot with a bit of leather, It isn't screechy or overdone. The leather is underpinning a quite resolute and insistent pink pepper and saffron note. It isn't very unique but it is quite nice. The drydown is where this shines and is, I must say, quite impressive. The citruses in the opening die off very quickly into an amber and incense heart and it changes right in front of you. It is definitely not linear: I enjoy fragrances that move on the skin and this one really does shift. The cardamom comes very much to the fore, reminding me a bit of Outlands, along with the pepper, with the slightly sticky incense and a deep and very rich amber. There are some other spices and a thick, chewy leather here too. I like it. It doesn't smell like anything else I have, and I rate that. I don't get much vanilla but the bottom notes are musky and rich. It has a lot of common DNA with Outlands but goes in a sweeter, lighter and muskier direction that makes it more universally unisex for me. Longevity is 8-9 hours and it dries nicely to a quite sensuous, spicy skin scent of benzoin-sweetened woods and a nice cashmere-y musk, that never truly sits down. It is quite impressively long-lasting. I read the reviews online on this one and wonder what else you want in a fragrance? It has genuine performance, it smells nice throughout several stages of its development, it is genuinely interesting and doesn't feel or smell generic or cliched to my nose, it dries down to a nice skin scent, it is individual, very wearable as quite heavy and powerful spicy fragrances go and it is very nicely presented. And it is US$35! Honestly I am not looking for things to criticise or complain about (because why do people need to do that?) here. Mine only arrived today and I suspect it will be even nicer after a month or two of maturation. It ticks an awful lot of boxes for me and is a much nicer addition to my collection than I was expecting from the reviews. Say what you like about the influencer YouTubers but if Cal Cologne helped develop this one in any real way, then fair play to him. He and Asrar have done a good job. It is very enjoyable and a worthwhile purchase. I don't think it needs to be any more complicated than that. Three Word Summary: Choose For Yourself. Scent - 7/10 Sillage - 7/10 Drydown - 8/10 Bottle/packaging - 7/10 Performance - 8/10 37/50

I have never been this impressed by a cheap Middle Eastern fragrance. Starting with the bottle, it is so cool. The soft-touch coating on the bottle is a unique touch, and the bottle looks amazing. Not to mention that the cap is a nice heavy metal. Now for the juice. I can believe the claims of 33 lab samples and multiple master perfumers working on this fragrance. With most cheap Middle Eastern fragrances, you can smell when they are made with cheap perfume oil; this is not one of them. This fragrance legitimately has noticeably high-quality fragrance oil, and is surprisingly complex. The initial spray reminds me a lot of The Blazing Mr. Sam, with its citrus and peppery cardamom on top. Pretty quickly, the citrus fades, and a rich leather takes center stage. After about an hour, the leather begins to fade, and a creamy vanilla remains. With the 30% oil concentration, the longevity is no joke. I get a reliable 8 hours, and it hasn't disappeared for nearly 16 hours. It also lasts and projects really well on clothes. Despite what I have been seeing online, this fragrance is not harsh in any way. The fragrance remains really smooth throughout. And while it lasts a long time and projects well, it is not a nuclear fragrance by any means. It is not overpoweringly strong; it just lasts forever. I have never smelled YSL 6, so I cannot speak to its accuracy. However, I can say with certainty that this fragrance is fire. It's so annoying to see people hate on this fragrance just because it's Cal's and/or because it is a "dupe". I hate to break it to you, but this was developed by a perfumer who has likely created some of your favorites, and it's made with perfume oils from the same companies. Well done Cal, its a banger

III Thriller Cal Cologne X Maison Asrar ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Apertura L'inizio è di forte impatto e decisamente pepato, dominato da una sferzata pungente di pepe nero combinata con le note aromatiche e fresche del cardamomo e del bergamotto. Una partenza decisa, "black" e di grande carattere, che mette subito in chiaro la natura misteriosa della fragranza. Cuore Con l'evoluzione, il profumo entra nel vivo e rivela la sua vera anima ispirata alla linea privata di YSL (6 Place Saint Sulpice). Emerge un cuore cuoiato intenso e fumoso, dove l'incenso e il labdano creano un'atmosfera calda, densa e tipica della profumeria di nicchia. Drydown Il fondo è la parte che sorprende di più per qualità e persistenza. La fragranza si addolcisce in modo estremamente piacevole grazie alla fava tonka e alla vaniglia, che poggiano su una base solida di ambra, sandalo e benzoino. A differenza di altre interpretazioni più intime, qui la struttura mantiene un'ottima scia e una longevità solida che supera le 8 ore. Consiglio d'uso Date le sue caratteristiche calde, ambrate e speziate, è una fragranza perfetta per la stagione autunno/inverno e dà il meglio di sé nelle occasioni notturne, formali o serate in buona compagnia. Giudizio Finale: Un acquisto totalmente azzeccato. Al costo di circa un decimo rispetto al listino del brand a cui si ispira, offre una qualità costruttiva impressionante, un'evoluzione complessa e performance tecniche superiori all'originale. Un must-have assoluto per chi cerca un profumo elegante e avvolgente senza compromessi. Voto 8

After 3 weeks of maceration, this has developed into a creamy, powdery vanilla, roasted coconut scent with a punchy pepper note that gets less synthetic and upfront as the juice macerates. Everyday I'm liking it more and more, layering it with Teriaq intense or bujairami hectic got a lot of people turning around as I pass them by. It's a unique niche scent. In my opinion, it has enough depth on its own. But this has to be layered with something for it to smell complete. Hard to say if it's blind buy safe, but it kinda reminds me of a blend of a smoky Odyssey Homme and a very light hint of Lattafa Liam, with a blast of pepper. Right now, it's my favourite of the month to wear this winter. It doesn't project a lot, but it lasts the whole day and I can even smell it on myself while wearing it. That's probably cz the juice is so heavy(40% oil) that it won't project far unless your body heats it up. But at least it lasts a heck of a lot even on skin. 8hrs+ on skin and maybe 2 days on clothes! I'd say this is fairly unisex, more masculine leaning. But for the women who can pull this off, that's a crazy sexy scent profile for a woman to wear! If future batches are reformulated to be smoother and less punchy with the pepper note, that would be a huge hit by this Collab. Scent: 8.5/10 Longevity: 9.5/10 Value:10/10

First up, the atomizer is TRASH... Jesus Cal, spend a few extra cents and put a decent atomizer on the damn thing... WTF? When I first got this, it wasn't all that great, and smelled a bit like a chemical mess. Perhaps this is because they are new and freshly mixed? But, after a few weeks of maceration this thing opens up and becomes very nice. The bergamot is a bit more pronounced in Thiller III vs. the OG, but that fades away in the first 5mins. This then becomes very linear to the OG, and I would put this at about 90% similar to the OG. The performance is without a doubt better than the OG, and I'm hoping it continues to get better the longer it sits. I would say that if you're thinking about dropping $380 on the OG, and money is not an issue for you... go for it. But, if you're on a budget, and want to smell like the OG, I would without a doubt drop the $40 on this and call it good. I am thinking about selling my OG bottle because I could use the money, but this makes owning the OG sort of redundant. I would also say that the performance on the OG is fricking TRASH... and makes this a better pickup when you start factoring that in. The OG is without a doubt smoother because of better mixing and oils and raw ingredients, but it doesn't justify the price point for the crap performance. 8 out of 10.